Improvement in harvesters



UNITED *STATES PATENT OEEICE.

WORDEN P. PENN, JACOB GEISS, AND JACOB BROSIUS, OF BELLEVILLE, III.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Speciiication formingfpartof Letters Patent No. 35.836, dated July P. i362.

To (LU whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that we, WORDEN P. PENN, JACOB GEIss, and JACOB BROsIUs, of Belleville, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful lImprovements in Reaping and Mowing Machines; and we do hereby declare the followi-ng to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top vieiv, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, of a reaper and mower to which our impovements are applied, and Fi gs. 3, 4, and 5 are detached parts of the same.

To enable others skilled inthe arts to which our improvements appertain to make and`use the same, we will vproceed to describe them, their objects, and the manner of .their operation.

L ike letters represent like parts of the different figures in the drawings, the main frame being represented by A.

The objects of our improvements are, trst, to provide a reaping and mowing machine with a more simple, cheap, and efficient means for raising and lowering the cutting apparatus, and for holding it to the desired height from the ground, or for letting it drag on the ground, without disuniting the operating-gearing. To this end we bolt to the inside of the main frame two brackets, B; in the inside face whereof a circular groove is made,

with a radii equal to the distance between the centers of the main axle C and the counter- `shaft D. In the aforesaid groove we arrange the circular plates E, on the inside faces whereof hubs'c aremade to receive the journals of the main axle. The said circular plates are' perforated near one edge,shown by b, and ahole is also made through the bracket and the side fran'ie-piece, through which a bolt, c, is put, whereby the plate is secured to the bracket in the desired position.. In Fig. 2 the frame is broken out to -more fully show the bracket. Tolthe circular platesE we attach levers F, the long end-s whereof are brought forward and united under the d-rivers seat G, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The point ofattachment between the levers and the plates forms the fuleruins of the levers. The short ends of the levers are hinged to the frame at il, a distance from the fulcruin about equal to making an oblong hole in the levers wheref-l they connect to the fulcrum, so as not to in'- terfere with the circular movement of the plates. By these means the truck-wheel becomes the real fuleruni of the levers, so that )by removing the bolts c and pressing down on the levers the frame and cutting apparatus will be raised up, the brackets sliding up on; the circular plates, keeping the driving-wheel I always in gear with the pinion J, the shaft of the wheel I .forming the center around which the pinion moves, thus furnishing `the driver with a complete and easy means of raising and lowering the cutting apparatus while the machine-istil motionrfer the brackets, instead of being bolted to the plates, may simply hang on lugs made thereon, so that the driver may with his feet raise the frame and cutting apparatus, by which he can avoid any small obstruction that may lie in the path of the machinewhen mowing grass close to the ground. --The main frame and the near end of the cutting apparatus are-raised, lowered, and 'supported by the abovedescribed arrangement of devices; but to adjust the outer end of the cutting apparatu's'and the platform tov correspond with the height of? the main frame we have contrived a new style of adjust-ablel caster-wheel, which consists of but few parts and is .very simple and eiiieient. The said caster-wheel is shown by K," and its supporting-arm by L, which is pivoted to the sector; M at e. The said sector is zhinged in lugs made on the outside of the shoe N, so as 4to swing on a horizontalplane. In thesector, near its periphery, a series of holes are made to correspond with the hole in the arm, in which a'. pin,- f, is put to hold it in the required position. By these means the outer end of the eut- 7 ting apparatus can be raised and lowered to correspond wit-h the near end, and the easter4 wheel can run close beside the framepiece o of th'e platform, at the same time allowing it all the different movements necessary to the fulfillment of its functions as the machine moves in the different directions. In case experience shows it to be necessary or advantageous, we propose to usethe circular plate, (shown in Figs. 4 and 5,) with hook joulnalboxes made in its periphery, as asubstitute for the plate E, and for substantially the same rpurpose and in the same relation to the main uipon the spring, so that in case the belt' shrinks, twists, or kinks it will still continue to operate well.

To facilitate the movement of the cutting apparatus of a reaping and mowing machine over the ground when cutting grass, we make the finger-beam oval or half-oval, asshown by V and U, by which means the cutting appa-` ratus is made lighter and moved over the ground, either backward or forward, with less power and with less liability to strike small obstructions than if made -wedgeshaped or ilat on its bottom side.

To preventy the trash from entering intol the guard-linger from either above or below, so as to choke the sickle, and also to provide -a more ellcient means of cleaning out such trash as may unavoidably. enter from the side ofthe finger in the path of the sickle, wemake the guard-finger with a closed smooth surface, both top and bottom, making only a narrow slit in i! ihr the sickle tow'ork in, asshown by XV. To eleanjthe trash' out of this -slit more rileetnally, we put small pins grin the sickle X, and 1ct them project a short distance oxnboth sides thereof, and make an opening above and below the sickle in the finger for thje said pin to work' in, as shown by 11. Byv these means very little trash gets inthe finger,

and that little is ei'eetually cleaned out.

To sustain the -conneming-rodwhich oper' ates the sickl'of a reaping and mowing` machine in aline therewith, and tol'keep the journal-box thereof from being cut out by the shoulder of the crank, thus perfecting the operation of this part of the machine and increasing its durability, we make an unusually large flange orcolla-r, m, on the lower endof the crank-pin, so that when the' machine is used for mowing and its back end is the lowest,

andthe journal-box of the rod falls against' the lower collar of the crank, it will be supported by a large surface, thus preventing the box from being eut out* and the rod from falling outof line.' The connecting-rod is of the ordinary construction, and is therefore not shown in thedrawings, and needs no description.

1. The bracket n, the Circulaipla E, uw.

main shaft C, the lever F, the main frame A,

and the drivers seat G, arranged in respect toeach other, substantially in the manner deof the perforated arms L, pertbrated segment M, and pin f, in the manner and for the purpose shown and described. y

\V. 'll. ]'ENN JACOB GEISS. J ACOB BROSI US.

l \Vitnesses:

G, GEORGE,

F; D. BnLcoUR. 

